April 27, 2015 – Republic of Mining

In Argentina, $5 Billion of Mine Projects Is Riding on Elections – by Pablo Rosendo Gonzalez (Bloomberg News – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.bloomberg.com/

Some of the world’s biggest miners are ready to spend at least $5 billion in Argentina if October’s presidential elections herald an easing of capital restrictions.

Goldcorp Inc., the largest gold miner by market value, billionaire Ivan Glasenberg’s Glencore Plc and Yamana Gold Inc. are among producers signaling new investments in the country if the next government is more receptive to the industry, according to the country’s mining association and provincial and company officials briefed on the matter.

President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner restricted imports and repatriated export revenue since she was re-elected in 2011. She created currency controls that hurt international mining companies and led Brazil’s Vale SA to cancel a $5.9 billion potash project in the country. The main presidential candidates appear more amenable to luring foreign investment, according to Martin Dedeu, president of the Argentine Mining Chamber. Fernandez isn’t allowed to seek a third term.

“The three leading candidates are convinced about the importance of the industry,” Dedeu said by telephone from Buenos Aires. “Daniel Scioli has said mining should be an engine for the economy, Mauricio Macri has been consistent in his support and Sergio Massa has said the sector deserves attention.”

COLUMN-Iron ore rallies on small BHP output deferral? Ridiculous – by Clyde Russell (Reuters U.S. – April 23, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

LAUNCESTON, Australia, April 23 (Reuters) – While it’s well-known that markets can have irrational short-term moves, the 4 percent jump in Asian spot iron ore on Wednesday must be a more extreme case.

Spot iron ore .IO62-CNI=SI jumped to $52.90 a tonne from $50.80 on April 20, continuing its rally from the record low of $46.70 reached on April 2.

On the surface the catalyst for Wednesday’s spike was BHP Billiton’s announcement that it would defer an expansion of its output of the steel-making ingredient from 270 million tonnes a year to 290 million tonnes.

The future loss of 20 million tonnes from a market that’s oversupplied by multiples of that amount clearly isn’t a sound basis for a price rally. What it does show is a market where many participants are keen to call a bottom, and are happy to grasp onto any positive news as justification for a price rally.

It also shows that many in the market weren’t really reading into this week’s quarterly production reports from BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Brazil’s Vale.

Province murky on its budget commitment to Ring of Fire – by Jonathan Migneault (Sudbury Northern Life – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

2015 budget hints at 2018 start for infrastructure investments

While the province reaffirmed its $1-billion commitment to transportation infrastructure for the Ring of Fire, the timeline for any government spending remains murky.

Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas expressed her disappointment after the Liberals announced the budget April 23 that the Ring of Fire funding had been taken out of the budget and pushed back to 2018, when Ontarians are due to return to the polls.

“Whenever a government makes a promise that depends on winning the next election, there’s reason to start to doubt their commitment,” Gélinas told NorthernLife.ca. “It’s a huge step backwards for the Ring of Fire.”

Gélinas got the 2018 date from a graphic on page 54 of the budget, which depicted some provincial government funding commitments with red arrows pointing to the right. Below the arrows was a timeline of dates, starting at 2014-15, and ending at 2023-24.

Ring of Fire Press Release: University of Toronto Instructors Launch Kickstarter Campaign for Ring of Fire Academic Research Project

April 27, 2015

In early April, Shadi Ramos and Fionn Byrne, two Landscape Architecture Instructors from the University of Toronto, launched their 40 day Kickstarter campaign, Ring of Fire.

The Ring of Fire is set to be the largest infrastructural project in Canada second only to the oil sands of Alberta. Situated in the James Bay Lowlands of Northern Ontario, the potential development area is 540 kilometers north of Thunder Bay and another 1,400 kilometers north of Toronto. This 5,000‐squarekilometer crescent shape deposit of chromite, nickel, and other platinum group metals is thought to be worth as much as $50‐billion and will require massive investment in infrastructure and housing to make the mining project operational. The area’s economy and ecology will be drastically changed in the coming years.

METALS-Nickel hits one-month high on supply concerns – by Liisa Tuhkanen (Reuters Africa – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://af.reuters.com/

LONDON, April 27 (Reuters) – Nickel prices surged to a one-month high on Monday on prospects for reduced supply, but analysts said the rally could be difficult to sustain.

Overall, base metals were boosted by higher Chinese equity prices and hopes for further stimulus in the world’s largest consumer of industrial metals.

Three-month nickel on the London Metal Exchange rose more than 3 percent to a session high of $13,690 a tonne. The steel ingredient ended at $13,550 a tonne – up from $13,195 on Friday, when it rose nearly 4 percent.

Expectations of a more balanced nickel market rose last week after the International Nickel Study Group said the global surplus would shrink to about 20,000 tonnes this year as an export ban on nickel ore by top producer Indonesia further crimps production in China.

Also on the radar are production problems at BHP Billiton’s Colombian ferronickel operations. However, Robin Bhar, metals analyst at Societe Generale, said the nickel rally could peter out as prices seemed to have returned to an equilibrium after falling to $12,205 in mid-April, the lowest level since May 2009.

China plans new commodity superhighway, altering energy trade flow – by Ilan Solomons (MiningWeekly.com – April 24, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.miningweekly.com/page/americas-home

JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – China’s Go West strategy of encouraging coastal to inland flow of capital and people will result in the formation of a new commodity superhighway, says advisory firm Wood Mackenzie (Woodmac).

This new superhighway will impact the energy trade flows within China and externally, through the new Silk Road routes, and will link the country from east to west, onwards to Central Asia and beyond.

“This represents a significant business and investment opportunity for China’s western region,” states Woodmac. Woodmac principal Asia economist Cynthia Lim explains China’s Go West policy is already under way and is often touted as the country’s “silver bullet” to ensure long-term gross domestic product (GDP) growth, as China’s economically dominant coastal regions approach maturity.

“The coastal provinces will have to upgrade their industries to higher value-add sectors, such as services, while industries will relocate inland, westwards. This is shifting the regional distribution of demand centres and power generation; and the impact will become more apparent over the next two decades.

China is burning through its natural resources – by Vladimir Basov (Mining.com – April 26, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.mining.com/

China is the world’s top mining country, but lack of local reserves of main mineral commodities forces local companies to hunt for mining deals globally.

Since nearly all essential production data has became available to the public, this is a good time to determine the biggest mining countries throughout the world in terms of their domestic mines output.

Due to lack of a common methodology, a simple principle of appreciated mining points credited to countries comprising the top 10 was used in this preliminary estimation.

For example, the leader in copper production was awarded 10 points, whereas a country sitting on tenth place earned one point. If a country placed out of the top 10 producers for a particular commodity, it earned zero mining points.

To simplify calculations, no weights reflecting the importance of each commodity, and other modifying factors, were taken into account. Only those most important for the world economy and most popular among investable mineral commodities, have been considered.

RPT-For hard-hit silver miners, gold is the silver lining – by Nicole Mordant (Reuters U.S. – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

(Reuters) – Pure-play silver miners, a niche investment market popular with retail investors, are moving up the endangered list.

Buffeted by a 68 percent plunge in the price of silver since 2011, miners who traditionally made most of their money from silver are increasingly diversifying into gold, buying mines that have been put up for sale and looking to acquire more.

In addition to spurring deals in the precious metals space, the trend is reducing investment avenues for those wanting to take a bet on a commodity that often outperforms gold when bullion is rising.

“The real silver nuts such as myself like pure silver companies. The more leveraged to silver the better… but you have to be able to tolerate the risk,” said David Morgan, founder of the Silver-Investor.com website.

According to BMO Capital Markets, large primary silver miners have increased their gold output on average by 19.4 percent a year since 2009 to 2 million ounces.

Barrick Gold faces shareholder wrath over pay hikes at annual meeting Tuesday – by Lisa Wright (Toronto Star – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

The Toronto Star has the largest circulation in Canada. The paper has an enormous impact on federal and Ontario politics as well as shaping public opinion.

Toronto-based mining giant’s board of directors in hot water over ‘exorbitant’ executive compensation plan.

Barrick Gold Corp. is in for a showdown Tuesday at its annual meeting in Toronto amid investor blowback over its controversial executive pay scheme that includes a 35 per cent salary hike for its board chairman.

The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, the country’s largest pension fund manager, joined three other big pension funds Friday in saying it too will vote against the Toronto mining giant’s executive compensation plan awarding John Thornton $12.9 million.

The CPP Investment Board also said it plans to withhold support from Brett Harvey, one of Barrick’s board members and the chair of its compensation committee, which approved the 2014 pay hikes for Barrick’s top brass in a year when shares plunged 33 per cent and the miner lost $2.91 billion.

“We continue to be concerned with the company’s practice of granting outsized awards on a largely discretionary basis, which we believe is inconsistent with the governance principle of pay-for-performance,” said the CPPIB in a statement.

NEWS RELEASE: THUNDER BAY HIGHLIGHTED AS ONE OF CANADA’S LEADING RESOURCE CITIES

April 27, 2015

THUNDER BAY – April 27, 2015 – The Canadian Chamber of Commerce is highlighting Thunder Bay & Northwestern Ontario as the first region of its new ‘Canada’s Resource Cities’ series. These short reports will help Canadians living in urban areas understand how much the prosperity of their communities depends on our natural resource industries.

Thunder Bay Chamber of Commerce President Charla Robinson comments, “Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario are proud of our heritage as one of Canada’s resource cities. We are honoured to partner with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce to highlight the success stories of our region with businesses across the country.”

Perrin Beatty, President and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce says, “Canada’s cities are the places where rocks, plants and hydrocarbons are transformed into the engines of our economy. They are the places that create the knowledge and technology to extract, harvest, transport and process natural resources in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner.”

Our Canada’s Resource Cities infographic is online at: www.tbchamber.ca/resource-cities . Printed copies of the infographic booklet are available at the Chamber of Commerce office.

NEWS RELEASE: VALE AND THE UNITED STEELWORKERS REACH TENTATIVE DEAL IN SUDBURY & PORT COLBORNE

April 27, 2015

SUDBURY, April 27 2015 – Vale and United Steelworkers (USW) Local 6500 and Local 6200 are pleased to announce that an early tentative agreement has been reached on a new five-year contract for Production & Maintenance employees in Sudbury and Port Colborne. The new 5-year Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will come into effect on June 1, 2015.

Details of the tentative agreement will remain confidential until the USW holds ratification meetings with its members on Wednesday April 29 and Thursday April 30.

“The negotiations process has been productive and respectful, and we are encouraged that we have been able to reach an early tentative agreement that is unanimously recommended by both bargaining committees for our members to consider,” said Rick Bertrand, President of USW Local 6500. “We endorse this deal and look forward to presenting the details to our membership as it paves the road for the next 5 years.”

“We believe we have reached a tentative agreement that appropriately meets the needs of both the company and our USW Local 6500 and 6200 employees,” said Mitch Medina, Manager, HR, Health, Safety & Environment and lead negotiator for Vale. “Both teams have worked very hard and in a spirit of cooperation to achieve the positive result we were all hoping for.”

Philippine mining regulator cautious on nickel prices – by Erik dela Cruz (Reuters U.S. – April 27, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.reuters.com/

MANILA – (Reuters) – The Philippines’ mining industry regulator said on Monday two new nickel mines would help boost production of the country’s top metal export this year, but prices may remain weak amid tepid demand from top consumer China.

The Southeast Asian country was last year’s biggest nickel ore supplier to China’s producers of nickel pig iron, used in stainless steel production, after previous top supplier Indonesia banned exports of unprocessed metallic minerals.

Leo Jasareno, director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), said nickel output this year should rise with the entry of the Libjo and Agata mines in the south.

“These new nickel mining projects are expected to boost the 2015 nickel production of the country, with the expected mine output of Libjo and Agata about 714,000 dry metric tons and 1,360,000 dry metric tons respectively,” he said in a statement.

Average nickel prices rose 11.6 percent last year to $7.56 per pound, boosting the value of the country’s overall metallic output to a record high 137.53 billion pesos ($3.1 billion), MGB data released on Monday showed.

Vale loses fight to skip daily cage inspections – by Darren MacDonald (Sudbury Northern Life – April 24, 2015)

April 27, 2015

http://www.northernlife.ca/

Company argued checking safety backups daily was a waste of time

Vale Canada Ltd. has lost an appeal of a Ministry of Labour order to do daily checks of a safety mechanism on mining shaft elevators that prevent them from free-falling in case of a malfunction.

In an Ontario Labour Board decision released April 10, Vice-Chair Matthew R. Wilson sided with United Steelworkers Local 6500, ruling that inspections of the safety catches – known as “dogs” – must be done daily.

The process is known as “chairing the cage,” and it’s a procedure that mimics what happens when the elevator (cage) that carries miners underground fails and the claw-like dogs on top begin spinning, biting into the wooden timbers in the shaft and stopping the free-fall.

The danger is that the dogs can become eroded or be compromised by falling debris, meaning they wouldn’t spin and attach themselves to the wooden timbers. In their arguments, Vale said their cages have a protective “boot” on top of the cage that prevents debris from falling into the dogs. Therefore, the company argued, the weekly inspections they conduct were sufficient.

Telfer, Giustra deny they tried to influence Russian uranium deal with donations to Clinton Foundation – by Peter Koven National Post – April 25, 2015)

April 27, 2015

The National Post is Canada’s second largest national paper.

A pair of Canadian mining magnates are denying suggestions that they donated to the charitable foundation of former President Bill Clinton and his family to help win U.S. approval to sell a uranium company to Russia.

Frank Giustra said the allegations have nothing to do with him, and are merely an attempt to “tear down” presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and her election campaign. Ian Telfer, meanwhile, said he committed the funds before he ever realized he would do the deal with the Russians.

The New York Times reported on the donations in an explosive article this week. The story involves a former Canadian mining company called Uranium One Inc., in which Giustra and Telfer were two of the key principals.

In 2010, Uranium One began a process to sell itself to Rosatom, a state-controlled nuclear giant in Russia. Uranium One had assets in Kazakhstan and the United States, and multiple U.S. government departments had to sign off on the deal. One of them is the State Department, which was led at the time by Hillary Clinton.

Federal help in Ring of Fire linked to community benefits (Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal – April 25, 2015)

April 27, 2015

Thunder Bay Chronicle-Journal is the daily newspaper of Northwestern Ontario.

The federal government needs to see the potential for community benefits before investing in the Ring of Fire development.

That’s the message Aime Dimatteo, director general for FedNor, gave during his presentation at the Northwestern Ontario Municipal Association conference, which was held this week in Thunder Bay.
Dimatteo argued the project is moving forward and pointed to the joint funded study with the province that’s looking at an east-west road corridor.

He said he was referring to the direction the federal government has taken in terms of building the infrastructure for the Ring of Fire. But the government wants to make it clear that those investments have to have community benefits, he said.

“If it is just about putting a road from a highway into a mining site that’s not going to have any community benefit, the federal government’s programs won’t come to bear,” he said. “In the case of the east-west road study that was announced jointly by the federal and provincial governments, it will connect four remote communities.